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No new trial yet for Molly Midyette

Ryan Morgan

Posted:
03/29/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

Updated:
08/16/2009 06:25:31 PM MDT

Explosive allegations of witness intimidation, attorney misconduct and evidence tampering aren't enough for a mother convicted in her infant's death to get a new trial -- her lawyer needs to make a legal argument, a Boulder District Court judge ruled Friday.

Molly Midyette's husband, meanwhile, says allegations that she suffers from "battered woman syndrome" came as "a total surprise," and his lawyer argues he needs more time to prepare a defense.

Midyette, 29, was found guilty in December of failing to get medical help in time to save her 10-week-old son, Jason, in 2006. She is scheduled to be sentenced in April to between 16 and 48 years in prison. Her husband, Alex Midyette, 28, is charged with inflicting the fatal injuries and is scheduled to go to trial in May.

Craig Truman, Molly Midyette's lawyer, requested a new trial on the grounds that Alex Midyette and his attorney, Paul McCormick, bullied her into not saying anything incriminating about her husband and his role in their son's death.

The motion, filed March 17, also accused McCormick of trying to sneak in third-party lawyers to Molly Midyette in jail to learn her defense strategy before her sentencing.

In his response, McCormick fired back, arguing that Truman's motion wasn't a legal argument at all, but "the personal statement of its author (Molly Midyette's counsel Craig Truman) masquerading as a pleading. It cites no law and challenges no ruling of court.

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Defendants seeking a new trial for their clients typically argue that a judge or prosecutor didn't abide by a statute or didn't follow applicable case law and that the lapse robbed the defendant of a fair trial.

On Friday, District Court Judge Lael Montgomery ordered Molly Midyette to do a better job of explaining why the jury's verdict should be set aside, especially since the deadline for requesting a new trial passed 45 days after the verdict was entered.

"Defendant is ordered to supplement her motion to make clear the Rule of Criminal Procedure under which she is proceeding," Montgomery wrote. "She is further to provide the court with the case law under which she is proceeding."

That supplemented motion is due to the court by Thursday.

Alex Midyette's attorney on Friday asked the court to push back his client's court date, which is now scheduled for May 27. In the motion, McCormick said he's been inundated with a "massive amount" of discovery material from prosecutors, including 70 CDs.

That glut of information, combined with the allegations included in Molly Midyette's filing earlier this month, has "totally derailed defense counsel from trial preparation, including medical investigation and expert testimony preparation," McCormick argued in his motion.

McCormick said the new information has also made it impossible for him to meet a Thursday deadline to turn over to prosecutors discovery that will indicate the kind of defense he will offer in Alex Midyette's trial.

In a motion opposing McCormick's request for more time to meet discovery deadlines, District Attorney Mary Lacy argued that no testing has ever shown that Jason Midyette died from a natural medical condition.

"The conclusion of every expert consulted by the People has consistently been that the constellation of injuries in this case are a result of non-accidental trauma," she wrote. "The defense has repeatedly indicated they have a medical explanation for Jason's condition. As of this time, the defense has refused to disclose the nature of the 'medical defense.'"

How long does this guy who killed an infant get to stay out of jail. Every day that he walks around out side of a cell is a disgrace. Of course McCormick just keeps billing those hours to dear old dad.

doug.pearl@comcast.net

3/29/2008 6:55:12 AM

Just quietly go to jail Molly, where you belong.

fardila@hotmail.com

3/29/2008 8:04:28 AM

Molly will go to prison, serve her time and get out and McCormick will still be asking for more time to prepare his case. This will go on and on, with the Midyettes being in denial that it happened.

If the judge can see through molly's BS, then they should see through McCormick's.

jay1831

3/29/2008 8:56:04 AM

Don't most people accused of murder remain in jail until their trial, and then that counts as serving part of their sentence? Why, other than wealthy parents, is this guy still wandering around? This is disgusting. He will never own up to what he did. I can't believe his attorney is still searching for some kind of medical defense.

monkeys

3/29/2008 9:07:38 AM

Monkeys - There is an inherent truth in our judicial system that declares "...innocent until proven guilty". Bond was requested, granted, terms met and the accused was free'd with restrictions (which were later modified at the request of defense counsel). Each and every citizen has the right to seek and retain counsel that will best represent their interest before the court. Some families, for whatever reason (political, social, economic, etc), have greater access to the large sums of cash and collateral that are required to meet bond.

Judicially speaking, the law is equally applied, ie, everyone has a bond set, although in extreme cases where there is a previous criminal history, grievous offenses, etc, the bond can be denied. Socio-economically speaking, the law is not applied fairly some would argue. Families with more money can afford better counsel who can argue better cases for bond/guilt/innocence/sentencing.

In Boulder you can a) Be wealthy and well presented; or b) Just not break the law. The latter would transcend the differences and create a more healthy environment full of rosies and posies...HaHa.

The argument is this: Don't break the law and you dont have to worry about what economic class you belong to. Or, if you are going to break the law, than at least have the resources to mount yourself a desirable defense.

boulderbikerfan1

3/29/2008 9:33:48 AM

"Defendant is ordered to supplement her motion to make clear the Rule of Criminal Procedure under which she is proceeding," Montgomery wrote. "She is further to provide the court with the case law under which she is proceeding."

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Awww sheeeaaattt. Lying sociopathic narcissistic baby killing lawyer girl gonna have to crack open a book and get readin'.

Reader1

3/29/2008 9:41:19 AM

Why is he wandering around? Because he could easily make the bond, and the DA's office inexplicably never asked to revoke his bond after his outburst, after his wife put in a motion that he wanted to leave the country. Money has talked since it took 15 months to indict them and only 15 days to arrest Joseph Dowler for a similar crime.

"Totally surprised" is a clever way for the defense to get their views of Molly's [b]NEW[/b] "battered women's syndrome" to the public...

tara

3/29/2008 10:51:54 AM

Keep Mary (BIMBO) Lacy Kennan out of this for anything good to happen!

steve

3/29/2008 12:32:18 PM

BOULDERBIKERFAN1 IS THE MONKEY OF FLAWED LOGIC. His entire argument falls apart at the end when fails to recoginize that some people don't break the law but end up charged with a crime.

rungreger

3/29/2008 12:50:23 PM

Molly is going for the Mary Winkler defence/excuse.

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